Rejoice In This: Finding Security in Belonging, Not Performance

The seventy-two returned with excitement.

“Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name!”

And honestly, I understand their excitement.

If I had seen what they saw and experienced what they experienced, I probably would have been celebrating too.

But Jesus responded in a way that surprises me.

“However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” — Luke 10:20

For a long time, I read that verse as a correction about pride.

Now I think it is about something deeper.

The disciples were finding their joy in what they were accomplishing for God.

Jesus redirected their joy to what God had already done for them.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how often I do the same thing.

I rejoice when I’m growing.

I rejoice when I’m succeeding.

I rejoice when I feel useful.

I rejoice when I’m being obedient.

And while none of those things are wrong, they make terrible foundations for security.

Because what happens when I fail?

What happens when I struggle?

What happens when I don’t feel useful?

What happens when growth feels slow?

If my joy is rooted in my performance, then my peace will rise and fall with my performance.

Jesus offers something better.

He points His disciples to something that does not change.

Your name is written in heaven.

You belong to Him.

Your standing with God is not built on today’s victory or yesterday’s failure.

It is built on Christ.

That does not make obedience unimportant.

It simply means obedience is no longer carrying the weight of proving our worth.

We are free to obey because we are already loved.

Free to repent because we are already accepted.

Free to draw near because we already belong.

“Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Sometimes I think Jesus is saying the same thing to us:

Stop looking first at what you have done.

Look first at whose you are.